Category Archive
‘Sports and Exotic Car Show’: 16 Posts

Morgan automobiles are some of the most unique cars on the road. Hewing to this company’s particular idiosyncratic traditions has ensured its products are both heritage-steeped (the 1930s-descended 4/4, Plus 4, Plus 8 etc.) and postmodern (the racing-influenced Aero range), albeit defined through that Morgan filter. They inspire a passion among their owners that is infectious, and as we learned last summer at the Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car Show – where Morgan was one of the specially invited marques – those owners go to great lengths to share their enthusiasm with each other and with the general public.

A lot of the appeal of the cars built by this 104-year-old firm is that they are boutique products still built by hand, infused with the old soul of Malvern, England. Although safety and emissions legislation has meant that Americans haven’t always been able to buy new Morgans, the company has been able to sell every one it has imported. The Morgan Motor Company’s story is so well known among true car people, you wouldn’t think it would need to advertise. That said, we’ll challenge you to watch this newly released video – in which craftspeople walk you through the four-week build process, primarily highlighting the traditional ash-framed models, in roughly 8 minutes – and to end up not wanting to experience driving one firsthand. You too will fall under Morgan’s spell.

After our recent assemblage of East Africa Safari Rally videos from British Pathe, we initially thought to pull together a similar compilation of BP videos focusing on the Monte Carlo Rally. Then we saw that the film producer has released no less than 45 film clips covering the rally from 1930 to 1970 to YouTube – far too many to embed into a single post. So instead, let’s take a look at The Road to Monte Carlo, a 15-minute film covering the 1960 Monte Carlo Rally that British Pathe produced for BMC, which unsurprisingly follows a handful of BMC cars – Austins, Minis, and the like – from Paris to Chambery and then on to Nice, but also includes some footage of various other cars in the rally. Nothing comprehensive here (after all, Mercedes-Benz 220 SEs swept first through third places that year, something BMC wouldn’t likely have wanted the British public to know), but plenty of footage showing the varied and oftentimes gorgeous terrain the cars crossed during the rally.

In 1969, while serving with the U.S. Army in Wiesbaden, West Germany, John Baumler was looking for “interesting transportation” when he purchased his 1963 Maserati Sebring. Forty-five years on, he still owns the car, which has racked up a mere 51,000 miles in the past few decades. Recently repainted to an impressive standard in his own garage with the help of friend Tom Hemmes, choosing this particular car as our second-favorite Maserati (behind the 1932 Maserati 4CS that also took Best in Show at Saturday’s Hemmings Sports and Exotic Car Show) wasn’t at all difficult.

By all accounts the Maserati Sebring is a rare car, with less than 350 Series I examples built between 1962 and 1965, when Modena switched to building the (even rarer) Series II. Though named for the storied racetrack in Florida (where Maserati captured victory in 1957 with a 450S driven by Jean Behra, Juan Manual Fangio and Stirling Moss), the Sebring was more grand-tourer than no-compromise sports car. One look at the car’s largely unbolstered leather seats, or its burl walnut dash, or its chrome-trimmed Jaeger instrumentation, clearly shows that comfort and luxury were emphasized as strongly as performance.

That performance was delivered by a 3.5-liter inline six-cylinder engine, featuring a twin-plug head design and Lucas mechanical fuel injection (which Baumler describes as “very reliable,” as long as the fuel pressure remains above 100 PSI). Output was rated at 235 horsepower, enough to deliver a top speed of 137 MPH and a quarter-mile time of roughly 16 seconds. That may not have been a match for a fuel-injected Corvette Sting Ray at the drag strip, but the Maserati would have been a far more pleasant choice to run at high speed for long stretches of Autostrada (or, in John’s case, Autobahn).

Given the Sebring’s understated good looks, it’s no wonder why his love affair with the Maserati has lasted for nearly half a century. Time takes its toll on everything, and despite John’s best efforts at regular maintenance and preservation, by 2010 the Sebring was in need of refinishing. Instead of farming the work out, John and Tom (a former aircraft painter) undertook the project on their own, stripping off layers of paint and the original polyester filler before getting down to bare metal. Straightening the hand-crafted body and making it symmetrical was a tedious, three-month process that required the pair to work with steel panels, aluminum alloy panels and lead filler. Once the prep work was done, John used an epoxy primer and tested several hues of paint before ultimately choosing a custom-blended metallic gray that has hints of rose in certain lighting. Though not a factory color, the paint certainly doesn’t look out of place on the Sebring, and applying it was a 17-hour marathon that caused a fair amount of concern from John’s wife in regards to the fumes created. The result of John and Tom’s labors speaks for itself, and it’s safe to say that even on the Sebring’s day of manufacture, it couldn’t have looked any better.

Looking to dress up the engine bay, John produced panels of engine-turned stainless steel to cover the firewall, radiator and inner fenders. With a background in avionics and communications systems, John ensured that the wiring was done to perfectionist standards, which explains why nothing is out of place in the engine bay or in the car’s cabin. Not all work was done in house, however: Looking to dress up the car’s alloy and steel wheels, yet improve the durability of the finish, John opted to send them out for powder coating. Instead of picking a single color, he chose to have the alloy outer portion of the wheels powder coated in a light metallic gray, which almost perfectly matches the car’s finish. The inner steel portion of each was powder coated in a slightly deeper shade of gray; though subtle, the effect adds noticeably to the car’s appearance and speaks to the thought that went into its refinishing.

Despite the attention lavished on the Sebring, it’s no trailer queen, and John continues to drive the car a few thousand miles each year. Recent trips have included the Le Belle Macchine d’Europa meet at Pocano Raceway, where John and his car enjoyed lunchtime “exhibition laps” at triple-digit speeds. Even the trip from John’s home in Lee Center, New York, to Saratoga Springs added a few hundred miles to the Maserati’s odometer, but it’s safe to assume that John (and Tom, who accompanied him to the Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car Show) enjoyed every mile of the journey.

Jeffrey and Susan Mader with their 1972 Datsun 240Z. Photos by author.

The Datsun Z, which debuted in the United States in 240Z form in 1970, was the first Japanese sports car that American buyers took seriously. Despite the car’s popularity, few early models have survived the ravages of time, and even fewer have survived in unmodified form. Though restored on several occasions, Jeffrey Mader’s 1972 Datsun 240Z is one such car; to say it looks as good as the day it rolled off the assembly line is a bit of a slight, because, quite frankly, it looks better than that.

Jeffrey’s passion for the 240Z dates to his childhood, when his early sports car dreams were shaped by his father’s 1970 240Z. Over the years, he admits to owning “numerous” examples, including a few that are currently mid-restoration. The star of his collection, however, is a lime green (technically, 112 Yellow) 1972 240 Z that was purchased in 2007, and served as one of the Nissan Vintage Z program cars restored by Pierre’Z Service Center in Hawthorne, California.

The Z has been a long-term part of Nissan’s identity in the United States, and when rising prices and slowing sales killed the 300ZX at the end of the 1996 model year, Nissan assumed the car’s absence would be temporary. An all-new Z-car would arrive in 2002, but to bridge the gap (and remind U.S. customers of Nissan’s heritage), the automaker had a flash of genius: To keep the model fresh in the minds of American customers, it would offer restored 240Zs, complete with 12-month, 12,000-mile limited warranties, for sale though select Nissan dealerships in California, Texas, Florida, Georgia and Virginia.

On paper, it was a brilliant plan, but in application it was hurt by several factors. Initially, the quality of the restoration was not up to customer expectations, particularly in light of the Vintage Z’s $24,950 asking price. This was addressed quickly enough, but the cost of refurbishing the cars turned out to be higher than anyone had anticipated, and even with a price increase to $27,500 the venture proved unprofitable for Nissan. While the automaker had initially discussed restoring 200 Datsun 240Zs, in the end the program rebuilt just 37 examples, including two procured by Nissan for its own collections.

Jeffrey’s 1972 240Z was one of the later cars restored in the program, and thus benefits from the knowledge gained on reconstructing earlier 240Zs. Though the 2.4-liter, 151-horsepower, inline-six engine was restored by a shop in Texas as part of the original Nissan-backed program, Jeffrey had it gone through again in 2013; at the same time, the engine bay was repainted in the car’s original color, though the exterior paint remains original to the car’s 1999 restoration. Aside from the period-correct slotted mag wheels (a dealer installed option), the car remains in stock form, with no engine, exhaust, suspension or body modifications, and Jeffrey intends on keeping it that way. It may not be numbers-matching (Nissan made no effort to pair original engines with original chassis during the Vintage Z program), but it certainly is rust-free and in showroom condition.

Jeffrey and his wife, Susan, enjoy the car as much as their schedule allows in the spring, summer and fall, and the couple drove the 240Z to the Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car show from their home in Sudbury, Massachusetts. A friend suggested trailering it, but Jeffrey never entertained the idea for long. “What’s the point of owning a car like this,” he told me, “if you can’t enjoy it on the road?”

In all, Ray Nadda of Allendale, Michigan, figures he’s had 97 or 98 different cars over the years – British cars, Italian cars, American cars, you name it – and he’s sold every single one of them. Every one of them, that is, except for the 1974 Porsche 914 2.0 that he’s now owned for 26 years.

“A couple times over the years I thought about selling it, but this is the one car I can’t ever bring myself to get rid of,” he said. “Living in Michigan, I have to put it away every winter, but when I get it out of the garage again, it’s like having a brand new car every spring.”

Nadda, who brought his 914 to this year’s Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car Show in Saratoga Springs, New York, said he bought the 914 used straight out of college, but it wasn’t necessarily his first choice. He said he had the list narrowed down to a Porsche 924, a 1985 Toyota MR2, and the 914. “I decided the MR2 wasn’t for me after I got three tickets in one day with it,” he said. Which isn’t to say that he didn’t flog the 914 after he bought it – he just did so on the track.

Remarkably, for a car that saw plenty of racing, Nadda said he’s never replaced or even opened up the 2.0-liter flat-four engine. “I’ve had people tell me to put a hotter cam in it, but I’ve always kept it original,” he said. “It’s the car’s reliability that led to me to keep it. I only ever had it die on me once, and it was just a bad coil. These days, it starts right up every time.”

Nadda did have the 914 repainted in its original Signal Orange about 14 years ago and has made a few minor upgrades here and there, but he said the interior and the suspension – like the drivetrain – remain all original. They’ll also likely remain that way for as long as Nadda can keep them original too.

As David LaChance, editor of Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car magazine, put it this past Saturday, the best thing about the annual Hemmings Sports and Exotic Car Show isn’t necessarily the cars themselves, but the variety of the cars and the fact that everybody in attendance seemed to sincerely enjoy checking out cars that weren’t like their own. David will have full coverage of the show in the November 2014 issue of the magazine, but for now we thought we’d showcase that variety with some of our initial photoimpressions from the show.

With Maserati’s centennial one of the primary reasons for choosing the Italian carmaker as a featured marque at this year’s Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car Show, it was only natural that we select the car that represented Maserati’s first production road car as this year’s Best of Show winner.

While the brothers Maserati did indeed establish their company in 1914, they focused exclusively on racing machines until 1932, when they decided to offer their 4CM 1100 monoposto – a devil of a race car with a supercharged 1,088-cc dual overhead camshaft four-cylinder – as a two-seater sports car, one that would be equally as competent on the road and racing the Mille Miglia. The first production 4CS, chassis number 1114, featured a Brianza-built aluminum roadster body and represented the coachbuilder at the 1932 Milan auto show, and then went ahead to satisfy the brothers’ objectives for the car when a privateer entered it in that year’s Mille Miglia and took the class title.

Chassis 1114′s exploits didn’t end there, though. According to owner Gary Ford of Allentown, Pennsylvania, the 4CS ended up in the hands of Count Carlo Castelbarco, who scrapped the car’s original bodywork to rebody it as a monoposto and swapped in a supercharged 1,407-cc four-cylinder from a 4CS 1500. Its subsequent owner, Giulio Ravasi, shipped the Maserati to Eritrea in east Africa, where the British Army commandeered it and put on a race in the middle of World War II, a race that the Maserati won.

One of five 4CS 1100s built (and using the engine from one of seven 4CS 1500s), chassis number 1114 not only survived the war and the last seven decades, it also was once again rebodied around the turn of the century in England, this time with a replica of its original two-seat roadster body, returning it to its original sports car form. Ford then bought chassis number 1114 in 2005 and has since campaigned it in a couple of Colorado Grands.

Don’t look now, but it’s almost August, which means it’s almost time for our ninth annual Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car Show. We’ll be returning to the beautiful grounds of the Saratoga Auto Museum in Saratoga Springs, New York, on Saturday, August 2, welcoming the most interesting sports, exotic and GT cars from around the world, and we hope you’ll be able to join us.

This year, the editors of Hemmings will be handing out awards in four special classes: Morgans and Maseratis of all years, and pre-1990 sporting Audis and Datsuns/Nissans. That’s in addition to our regular classes: favorite British, German, Italian, Swedish, Japanese and French car, a catch-all for favorite European car (don’t despair, Skoda owners), and favorite late-model exotic. Photos of all winning cars will appear in a future issue of Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car.

The show is open to any imported sports or GT car that’s at least 25 years old and exotic cars of any age. If you have a newer car you’d like to bring, you’re more than welcome, too—there will be an area for display-only vehicles that don’t qualify for a judged award. As of this writing, we have 107 cars registered, ranging from a 1929 Rover Riviera VI to a 2012 McLaren MP4-12C (and even a 2013 Morgan Three-Wheeler).

The fee is $15 per judged vehicle, and $10 for non-judged cars. Spectators get in for free, so bring your friends and come and make a day of it. You can register at the gate, or save time by registering online here. You can also register ahead of time by contacting Trisha Grande at tgrande@hemmings.com, or 800-227-4373.

A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Saratoga Auto Museum, and all registrants will be given wristbands for free admission to the museum. The gates open at 8 a.m., and the show runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with judging beginning at 1 PM. In the event of rain, the show will be held Sunday, August 3.

The ninth annual Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car Show, our annual celebration of some of the most exciting sports and GT cars from around the world, will return to Saratoga Springs, New York, on Saturday, August 2. Four special classes will be featured: Maserati (all years), in honor of the company’s centenary; Morgan (all years); Audi (pre-1990); and Datsun/Nissan sports cars (pre-1990).

Trophies will also be awarded in the pre-1990 British, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Swedish and European car classes, as well as in 1990-and-up modern exotics class. All sports cars, GTs and exotics built outside the United States are welcome; there will be a display-only area for cars that do not qualify for one of the judged classes.